The long legal battle involving former Eastleigh North Chief Paul Kuria Ngugi has finally come to an end after the Court of Appeal in Nairobi upheld both his conviction and sentence for corruption-related offences.
The decision marked the conclusion of a case that has been in the courts for years, following Ngugi’s arrest and prosecution for taking a bribe from a resident who sought help in obtaining citizenship documents for her relatives.
The three-judge bench, made up of Justices Patrick Kiage, Weldon Korir, and Joel Ngugi, ruled that the prosecution had presented strong and consistent evidence proving that the former chief demanded and received Ksh 20,000 from a woman named Rhoda Mohamud in October 2014.
The money, according to the prosecution, was meant to induce the chief to issue introduction letters that would help her cousins get registered as Kenyan citizens.
Ngugi had been convicted by the Anti-Corruption Court on two separate counts soliciting and receiving a bribe under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
He was fined Ksh 150,000 for the first count and Ksh 100,000 for the second, with the alternative of serving one year in prison for each count in case of default.
After the High Court dismissed his initial appeal and upheld the lower court’s findings, Ngugi turned to the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn both his conviction and sentence.
In his defence, he argued that he had been framed by officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). He claimed that the complainant had planted the marked money on his office table and that the arrest was politically driven. Ngugi maintained that he had not asked for or received any bribe and insisted that the case was an example of entrapment by investigators.
However, the appellate judges disagreed, stating that the EACC officers had not coerced him into committing the offence.
Instead, they found that the evidence showed he had already demanded a bribe before the investigators stepped in. The judges explained that the sting operation only confirmed a crime he was already willing to commit.
The court relied heavily on video and audio recordings, the recovery of treated money, and forensic tests that detected APQ powder on Ngugi’s hands all of which supported the complainant’s testimony.
The judges observed that these findings were consistent and credible, leaving no room for doubt about his guilt.
They concluded that the conviction and sentence were well-grounded and fair, noting that the fines imposed were even lenient considering the seriousness of the offence.
The appeal was therefore dismissed in its entirety, cementing the former chief’s conviction and bringing a close to a case that underscores the continued fight against corruption in public service.
